Embassy license plates
Under the old system, diplomatic plates in Beijing featured the character 使 (shi) in red, representing 大使馆 (dashiguan), which means “embassy.” Each embassy received a unique three-digit number; in this case, the number is 200, designated to the embassy of Saudi Arabia.
The next three digits indicate the car’s number: 001 is always the ambassador’s official car. Other embassy vehicles have no specific numbering, and plates can be transferred between cars. The Opirus has 使200·009. Embassies may import vehicles from their home country or buy cars locally.
The current diplomatic license plates look different; the character 使 has moved to the end of the license plate.
The Kia Opirus sedan
The Kia Opirus was an executive sedan, manufactured in South Korea from 2003 until 2011 with a facelift in 2007. This embassy car is a post-facelift example. The design is interesting, mixing classic sedan elements with a South Korean sauce, with lots of shiny chrome. My Luyuan electric scooter is in the foreground, on the left. It was red, fast, and never let me down.
Premium was the top trim level, with fancy red badges on the front fenders.
The Opirus sedan had a distinctive logo, with badges on the grille and the C-pillar. The only Kia badge is on the back.
The good people from the embassy didn’t care to remove the original factory sticker! It shows the VIN, the factory line, the color code, and the engine type. EB 29 = Ebony Black. The engine is a transverse 3.8-liter V6, with an output of 263 hp and 353 Nm. The gearbox is a five-speed automatic, with front-wheel drive. The top speed was 230 km/h and 0-100 took 7.5 seconds. That made the Opirus the fastest Kia sedan ever, at the time. Fuel consumption was steep with a combined 10.9 liters per 100 kilometers. Happily, it had a big 70-liter fuel tank.
Kia officially sold the Opirus sedan in China as an import. The post-facelift 3.8 V6 model sold for 308.000 yuan in 2008. China and South Korea had a customs agreement on cars at the time, with low import tariffs, which meant that South Korean brands could sell import vehicles for relatively low prices. This Opirus was purchased locally in Beijing. I have checked, but it doesn’t seem around anymore. That’s too bad, but it sure was a classy embassy car.